


Scales and Spirits

by howlingwolvesonfire



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternative Universe - Online Friends, CoLu Week 2020, F/M, Family Feels, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, ship kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24717466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howlingwolvesonfire/pseuds/howlingwolvesonfire
Summary: Everyone's favorite poison dragonslayer and celestial wizard duo for CoLu Week 2020! A series of 500-1000ish word drabbles based on the prompts for this year. Mostly revolving around different AU scenarios.
Relationships: Cobra | Erik/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52
Collections: CoLu Week 2020





	1. Day 1: Splinter

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello hello hello! Welcome to my CoLu week 2020 story! I've been around for all the CoLu weeks in existence but only ever participated once to my great shame. Since I have longer, more involved plans for the CoLu week prompts of 2019/2018/2017 I decided to riff off my MidLu week idea and do a series of 500-1000ish word drabbles. Most of these will be different AU's of some kind, but this one is not! Look forward to the rest of the drabbles, and keep an eye out for the other CoLu stories!
> 
> Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail

"Aren't you going to take a job?"

Lucy blinked at the man's direct tone. Sure, he wasn't exactly known for being polite, but an underlying note of curiosity made her pause.

It had been over a year since Alverez, and thus, over a year since the man most well-known as "Cobra" was pardoned, along with the rest of Crime Sorciere. Since then, Jellal and the rest occasionally came by in order to socialize or report decreasing dark guild numbers; this was one of those days.

But Cobra had never even spoken to her directly, much less so brazenly before…

She wondered what he was up to.

"…I'm actually not doing too bad this month. I don't know if you know, but I recently published a bestselling book. I haven't had money problems for over six months now. Besides…" she tilted her head as a sign of confusion.

Before she could finish, he answered. "Why do I care? I don't, really." He shot a glance at the other side of the room where Natsu and the rest of her familiar party were drinking and being boisterous as usual. "But they'll probably be in an uproar if you say you plan on going solo by yourself for a few months."

Lucy blanched at his statement. "How did you–"

He raised his hands in a form of surrender. "Relax, relax. I'm not a snitch…well," he gave a grin, "not without the right reward."

She glared at him only to fall silent. She sighed. "What exactly did you want for that information?"

Surprisingly his eye widened, as if he hadn't expected her to give in so quickly. "You really don't want them to know, huh…" he mumbled.

"It's not-it's-" Lucy fumbled over the right words, taking care to be quiet, even in the loud guildhall. It's not as if Cobra wouldn't be able to hear her anyway. "I don't want them to think I don't want to be a team anymore…I'm just not sure if I want to be a team again right now."

Even now, the memory of the guild splitting up after Tartarous and everyone, especially Natsu, leaving felt like a hole in her heart that would always be a little open. She had forgiven Natsu and reunited with her team, but the events of the past could not be so easily swept under the rug for her. She just didn't know how to properly articulate it.

"So you don't want them to think you're splintering off, but a part of you wonders if it's still healthy to stay fully attached?"

Lucy's mouth opened to gape at Cobra, who didn't look directly at her as he spoke in a similarly quiet voice. "I know you probably won't believe me…but I get the feeling."

As Lucy felt time slow down as she processed the words she took a glance in another corner, where the rest of Cobra's own guild loudly (but less loud than her group) chatted in the corner of the guild. She had rarely seen him separate from them, and for the first time wondered how he felt about his own team.

"…Did you want to do a job together?"

Cobra turned to look at her directly for the first time in the whole conversation. His amethyst eye once again going wide in a look of utter surprise. Even though Lucy knew him mostly as a cold-blooded criminal she couldn't help but think the look on his face made him cute. (And prayed he didn't hear her think that).

"You'd really trust me enough to go on a job with me?" he asked warily.

She laughed, "Have you seen my team? If we don't almost die once per job it isn't a real job. Besides…" her mouth turned into a grin, "I'm pretty sure I could take you on."

Cobra's face also broke out into a wry grin. "We'll see Blondie, we'll see."

The two of them didn't end up taking a job that day; they were too busy discussing the other teams and woes thereof to even look at the job board. But they didn't feel as if their time had been wasted, not at all.


	2. Day 2: Constellation

"Favorite color?"

"Blue. You like the way it looks on you so you wear it often. Least favorite candy?"

"Twizzlers. They get stuck in your obnoxious large canines and you hate strawberry flavoring. Least favorite social media app?"

"Um…what's going on?"

Wendy whispered her question into the ear of her peer mentor, the senior biology student Natsu, as the two other students' voices grew in volume and in attracting a crowd. It was the middle of the college central plaza, just after morning classes, when people were getting out and walking around. Natsu peered at the two with a surprisingly invested look on his face.

"Those two at it again, huh? Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn't know since you're new...," he scratched his head as he began to explain. "The one on the right, that's Lucy, she's a senior journalism major. And the one on the left's Cobra, er, Erik, he's also a senior...he's, like, a lawyer's secretary?"

"Paralegal?"

"Yeah, yeah! Anyways, those two are in the same year as me, and they infamously got paired together for an English assignment freshman year." He scratched his chin like he was an old man reminiscing about his youth. "They had a fight in this square over the first paper they corrected for each other, something about ole' Snake-Eye being too critical and Lucy being too nitpicky." He shrugged his shoulders, "eventually they started competing over things, trying to one-up the other, or just get on each other's nerves. Basically they're best friends."

"...So like you and Gray?"

Natsu sputtered at Wendy's innocuous comment, but she was too caught up in looking at the two seniors to notice. The girl she had seen before, she was one of the writers on the school paper, a prominent part of the upper student body. The boy she didn't recognize, but with his single eye and rough features, it would be harder to not recognize him from anywhere.

"So…are they competing again?"

"...Right on the money. Apparently Lucy got Snake Boy some of his favorite coffee, even though he swears he never told her what it was. Soon it snowballed into each claiming they knew more about the other and here we are."

Natsu didn't look the least bit surprised that this was going on; not the argument itself or the fact that it took place smack dab in the middle of campus.

"Heh, I'd bet money that things may get even more heated soon. Those two have more secret shippers than they realize."

"Prepared to lose money so early in the morning Natsu? This is why you keep getting scammed man."

Another senior advisor, a black-haired biology major with an open shirt, strode up to the two. Natsu's face took on a scowl while Wendy recognized her friend's peer mentor. "Gray!"

"Yo, Wendy! Chelia says hi. Guess they're at it again...those two make everything a public spectacle."

"Coming from the man accused more than once of exhibitionism, maybe that's a little harsh."

Natsu cut in. "You wanna bet, fine. One hundred that they do a full kiss, right here in the square."

"One-hundred FIFTY that it's Erik who's too overcome with desire and pulls her in."

"You're out of your mind. Two hundred that it's Lucy."

"Deal."

The two seniors glaring at each other with forced grins almost pulled Wendy's attention away from the main attraction. Almost. They were still going at it at an increasing volume, with nary a breath between each line.

"Least favorite type of dance!"

"Ballroom dancing. You think it's too stifling and not expressive enough. Favorite...constellation!"

"Aquarius!…Is what you'd think I say, but that's not it!"

For the first time since they started arguing, Lucy looked taken aback. Erik grinned as he went on the attack. "I know your _actual_ favorite is Canis Minor, since that's always the first one you try and find when you stargaze, and the one you named your weird little dog after. Aquarius means a lot to you, but you just end up thinking about sweet little Minor more, it's pretty obvious to me."

Although his words dripped with pure smarm, Wendy could detect a strong level of confidence and understanding in his tone. Apparently Lucy could too because she offered no words of rebuttal towards him. Erik took this as an apparent sign of victory.

"Now, since you gave me such a hard one, it's only fair I do you one back. If you can get this one, maybe I'll concede to a dra-mmph!"

His words were permanently cut off as Lucy briskly lept over and placed her lips on his. The entire plaza erupted into cheers, whistles, and many, many long-held sighs.

Wendy blushed at the level of forwardness in Lucy's actions, while Natsu fist-pumped as Gray sank to the ground.

"Hell yeah! I called it! Don't you see I called it!"

"Yep…there goes my emergency pant fund…"

"Hey! It's too late for pity! Cough it up!."

And that was how the terrifying senior duo shared their first kiss together...and how Gray became two hundred dollars poorer.


	3. Day 3: Port

Lucy Ashley Heartfilia was a lot of things. One of those things was the captain of a relatively notorious pirate crew, *not* one of those things was a sucker. Unlike what the man who called out to her on the docks seemed to believe.

He was dressed not unlike one who lived outdoors for most of their life, with tanned skin and a single amethyst eye. His other most noteworthy feature being the dark green snake hanging off his neck like a piece of jewelry, one the man seemed more than content to have on him.

"If it's merchandise or advice I'm afraid I'm not interested in either."

She was currently docked at a port in Kippernarchy, an island known for colorful and lively entertainment as well as an unstable underbelly filled to the brim with criminal scum. She had sent the rest of her crew for supplies as she and her second-in-command Cana chatted with the merchants and dockers along the port. When the man had shown himself, the rest of her company seemingly vanished; already proof enough that he was no good.

His single eye cut straight through her as he shrugged his shoulders. "You're in luck then, because I'm not currently carrying either. I wanted to strike up a deal instead."

She raised her eyebrow. "What kind of deal?"

"A deal that I'm sure you're familiar with. I want to join your crew."

Cana snarled beside her. "Like you really just want to 'join the crew' you bas-"

"Cana, stand down. He's two against one in broad daylight." Although considering the fact that everyone else at the scene was either ignoring them or fled…

"Easy now, I'm not so much a bastard as to corner people whose help I need in order to get by. Especially not two," he paused as if to consider his next words, " _lovely_ and considerate young ladies. That's why I'm doing this out in the open, for all to see."

Lucy could feel Cana bristle beside her, but she let him continue.

"I know this may seem abrupt, but I have skills I feel could be of use to you. I go by a few names, but you can call me Cobra. I'd like to join as an animal handler if possible. I'm well acquainted with mainly reptiles, but have been known to get along and tame anything from small mammals to a hydra." He paused again, this time to give a self-deprecating grin. "Well, the hydra is a little more complicated than one might expect, but I assure you it was tamed, at least for the time it was needed."

"Why?" Lucy cut him short with a question. "I don't have any reason to trust or deny you at the moment. But I'm more curious as to your motives." She took a step forward. "We're a crew of mostly women, mostly those who want to start building a better life for themselves. You…" she met his one-eyed stare, "you don't seem to be that down on your luck."

For a moment, his gaze hardened, and she felt a powerful force stir from the man. Instinctively her hand rested on her sword. Instead of advancing, or even snapping, he simply looked away, towards her ship. For the first time, a melancholic tone rang out in his words. "Your ship…the Aquarius."

A statue of a mermaid holding a water jug, indicating Lucy's ship, stood proudly at the front of the Aquarius.

"Your ship is known to rescue slaves, correct?"

Lucy nodded slowly. It was not an uncommon fact that this was the case, but they did not publicize their doings as to not attract the wrong kind of attention whenever they were in port. For him to know and speak so openly of this…

"My…friend…was captured several years back. I figure if anyone could find or, or would run into her, it would be this crew."

Lucy glanced from her ship to back at him. "And you would be willing to serve this crew in order to find them?"

Cobra made an uncomfortably deep bow, which, added with his words, "with my life", made his actions almost unbearably upfront. Still…

"You don't really believe this guy, do you Captain?" Cana whispered to her. She wasn't entirely sure if she was being honest. This man had every reason to lie and she had no reason to trust. But despite what should have been an easy choice...

"Let me buy you a drink," she declared. "Then, perhaps if you are willing to explain more, and meet the rest of the crew, then we can see about your offer."

The man came up from his bow, an expression of unmistakable relief flooding into him for the briefest second before returning to one of smug confidence. "As you wish, my hopefully future Captain."

Lucy snorted and turned around to head into the town, the implication that he follow. She only just met him and already his bold manner had shockingly enraptured her.

She'd have to keep an eye out on him. Even if he was on their side, there's no telling what sort of things his silver tongue may talk others into...especially herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame my pirate DnD game for this one...as well as my very first DnD game, in which the party really did tame a hydra and then proceeded to ride it through town.


	4. Day 4: Freedom

"Hey, you! Help me!"

A woman's voice rang out in Erik's ears as he turned around. It was early in the morning, the perfect time to go on a jog in the middle of the park. Free from mothers with small children that would stare at him suspiciously, or young teens who would yelp in fear if he looked at them wrong. Yep, almost nobody was here at the park now.

Nobody except…a supermodel chasing a dog?

"Don't just stand there, catch him!" She shouted as she ran after what looked to be a white blur. In her almost knee-length dress, she couldn't pump her legs fast enough to catch it. Erik was about to pretend he was hard of hearing when suddenly he noticed that the blur was, in fact, heading straight for him.

Caught up in the moment, he barely had enough time to bend his knees for a tackle when suddenly his arms were filled with white. A tiny, shivering Yorkie buried itself in his arms, its leash dangling down and tongue out as it panted in exhaustion.

It's owner, similarly out of shape, stopped to catch her breath right in front of him. Up close she was even prettier than he'd thought. Her straight blonde hair caught up in a side ponytail and blue flower-patterned dress looking like she just walked off a movie set.

Well, if not for the fact that her front was covered in dirt. She must have fallen a few times trying to catch her dog.

She spat out some dirt from her mouth and looked up at him, brown eyes full of relief. "Oh, thank you for catching him! We're soooo sorry, aren't we Plue?"

"Plue", still shaking, gave a tiny bark as if in agreement. Erik, still stunned at the woman out so early, tried not to look like he was staring. "Ah–yeah–uh, no problem?"

"It's just, you see, he's a foster dog that got rescued from an abusive home recently, so I've been trying to get him back on his feet." She moved closer to take Plue's paws in her hands. "But that's hard when you're scared of everything! Oh you poor sweet boy."

Despite being covered in dirt she smelled like lavender. Who had blessed her to smell so nice after tripping onto an open field? All Erik would probably smell like is sweat. How's that for a lousy first impression?

"…Why are you out here so early?"

"Huh? Well because there's nobody around right now…" She paused to look around the park, smiling, "it's very freeing behind out with little people. Plus it's the perfect time for when you've got a shy dog!"

"You're lucky you haven't gotten mugged yet."

She glared at him, "Hey! I'll have you know I have mace AND a history of martial arts. If you steal my dog I'll kick your ass."

Erik laughed. "I don't have any plans on stealing your dog. He'll probably explode in terror if he gets away from you too long anyways, wouldn't be any fun."

The woman pouted as he handed her back her dog, still shaking, but a little less so than before. He started walking away since he figured the conversation was probably over, but before he could begin jogging again–

"Hey! Do you always go for a run around here?"

He looked back at her. After a brief second, he nodded.

She smiled, a little wider than before. "In that case, I'll see you around! My name's Lucy–" she put Plue's paw up and waved it, pitching her voice up, "–and I'm Plue!"

Erik gave a snort but waved back, "Erik for me," he called out, before going back into a run.

He used to enjoy the fact that he saw almost no one at this hour…now he was thinking how nice it was to see just one.


	5. Day 5: Mosaic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This AU is meant to take place in a Canon AU I'd like to write one day called "Swapped". Basically, Cobra and the rest of the OS break out of Brain's control and head to FT, while some characters meant for FT fall in Brain's hand. It'll be a really fun (if dark) AU if/when I get around to writing it. This piece is meant to take place right after Phantom Lord, so forgive me if there are any inconsistencies.

The tent hastily put up just outside the now destroyed Fairy Tail guild housed only one person, and it was her that Erik was visiting late into the evening. Phantom Lord may have been taken care of, but injuries, expenses, and pesky Rune Knights still had to be dealt with. Erik was easily able to slip around and get inside unnoticed; his magic making it easy to tell where he should and shouldn't be to be seen.

He entered the tent quietly. Lucy was still supposed to be asleep and he didn't want to disturb her. Because of his magic, though, he could hear that she was awake even before pulling back the tent flap. "I'm coming in, Lucy." He spoke carefully before entering.

She was a bit of a mess after recent events. Erik didn't want to pry too hard, although it wasn't exactly easy to not hear her thoughts if he wasn't paying attention. Even after having Makarov drill into him the methods of focusing and letting go, he still found himself slipping. More around some people than others he realized.

Lucy's thoughts though were like still water. Shockingly still after everything that happened. When she first arrived at the guild and he'd introduced himself, his hearing magic made him believe she was just as crazy and over the top as the rest of the guild (even if she venomously denied it). Over time though, he noticed a sadder, softer side that made her seem like a girl who had trouble fully expressing herself. He could tell that some things had been suppressed, perhaps for longer than even he thought.

He could understand the feeling. Brain also taught them to suppress, and even though it was only a short period of time under him, the effects could still be felt in all of them from time to time. Erik shuddered to imagine what they'd be like if Brain still had them all under his thumb. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, he should be thinking about Lucy, not himself.

Lucy sat in a passable but no means comfortable temporary hospital bed, lightly bandaged up and trying to complete one of the sticker mosaics Levy gave her as a way to pass the time while being questioned. It was too early on to tell what the heck the whole thing was supposed to be, but knowing Levy it would no doubt take a while to be fully complete.

She looked up from the mosaic and smiled. "Hi, Erik. Didn't think you'd be up here to see me."

"Yeah, well, Fireball's bandaged up so much you can barely make out a word he's saying…and I have good ears." He laid down a bag in front of her. "Here, everyone bought you some snacks. Don't eat Erza's unless you want some diabetes on top of bruised ribs."

She laughed, genuinely. "I'll keep that in mind." She paused when she noticed he wasn't immediately leaving. Something was on the tip of her tongue…

"Actually, can I ask a favor? If you're not busy…could you stay for a little bit longer?"

He looked at her tired eyes and tried not to bite his lip. She might not say but he could tell, she was feeling lonely from being stuck out here, away from prying eyes. She understood the reasoning well enough, but it didn't do anything to soothe the pain.

"This sticker mosaic…Levy gave me an extra big one." Lucy unfolded the section she was working on to its full length, and only then did Erik notice that it was far bigger than he first thought. "It'll take me awhile to do it all by myself, so maybe we could work on it together?" She gave a pained smile. One Erik knew all too well. One he'd seen on his team, on Erza, and one he'd felt himself make. It was a smile one made when they felt truly at a loss for how to move forward. He couldn't bear that kind of expression on anyone's face.

"Weeeell, not like any of the guards suspect any of us in here." He took a chair and moved it to sit next to her, putting part of the puzzle on his own lap. "Geez, you're right. What, does Levy think you'll be here a whole month? This is ridiculous."

A shy smile spread across Lucy's face as he accepted her request. She didn't say thank you, at least not out loud, but Erik didn't mind. He was taught to not pry into other people's business, so he also pretended not to catch the short sigh of relief that came with it.

"Now…are we going by color, by section, or no rules?"

"Hey, I didn't invite you to break up my organizational strategy! Now pick a color and get sticking!"


	6. Day 6: Weight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Day 6 really caught me off guard in terms of what to do, which is why it took so long to finish up this week. Hope everyone had a good one! I'm so glad I was able to participate during the week this year, and I hope everyone enjoys the last few prompts! I know I did.

Lucy opened the door to her apartment with a sigh of relief. It had been a stressful day of interning at the local paper with her high strung boss breathing down her neck about assignments. She was beat. Her plan was to take a bath as soon as humanly possible.

Juvia–her roommate and sanity buffer–interrupted her relaxing bath time thoughts. "Lucy? You got a package today. I signed for it for you."

Lucy tilted her head and blinked in confusion. "Package? I didn't order anything recently."

"It's from a person…do you know anyone named Cobra?"

Lucy put her hand to her mouth in surprise. "No way. What's the return address?" She and Juvia headed deeper into the living room, where a rather large package waited for her. She circled around it, grinning as she glanced at the return address. "Aha! I knew it! It's him, it's gotta be him!"

"Him?…Ohoho, Lucy to think there's a boy I don't know about!"

Lucy restrained the urge to roll her eyes. "It's not that Juvia. I swear you and your romance addled brain." She tapped the front of the box and smiled. "It's just a friend I made online years ago. He went by the handle 'Cobra' so that's who I think of when I hear that name. We exchanged addresses recently since I asked if I could send him a letter. I never thought he'd be the one to send something first…"

"Oooo, Lucy you have to tell me everything. After you open this thing up of course." Juvia looked at the package almost quizzically. "I wonder what he sent you that would be so monstrously heavy…"

"Heavy?" Lucy attempted to pick up the box. She wasn't weak by any means, but even she was caught off-guard by the unexpected weight. "What the-what did he put in here?!"

With speed and precision that would leave a kid on Christmas in awe, Lucy tore into the box, making sure not to accidentally cut whatever was inside, to finally claim the prize of–

Glitter.

An enormous spread of shiny glitter, in so many colors and at such variety it would make anyone's head spin. Silence followed as Juvia stuck her hand in and shifted around, pulling it back up in disbelief. "It's just…glitter."

Juvia nervously glanced at Lucy's face, expected shock, or awe, or even just confusion like herself. What she did not expect was an indignant expression not seen since she saw Natsu prank her by pouring water on her face when she was asleep almost three years ago.

"That punk! Is that what he meant when he said I'd be getting my spark back soon?!" She took out her phone and snapped some pictures of the open, glitter-filled box before violently tapping away on her phone. "Oh, I bet you think that's funny, well, I'll show you funny mister!" Lucy gave a dark chuckle that Juvia felt like she heard before…by a villain in a superhero movie. "Juvia! Help me brainstorm revenge ideas!"

"Oh, Juvia…Juvia needs to go on a walk!"

"Huh?"

"I've been stuck inside all day waiting for you to get home, I'll be right back!"

Before Lucy could pull her into the dark vortex of package revenge, Juvia excused herself and exited the building, hoping that in the thirty or so minutes it took to walk around the block Lucy would be a little calmer (or maybe just in the bath).

Despite the dark aura permeating from her roommate, Juvia couldn't help but giggle. Maybe even Lucy herself didn't realize that there was a new spark in her eyes once she opened the package, as dumb as the contents may be. Maybe this Cobra fellow understood her more than Juvia thought?

Juvia resolved to have Lucy tell her everything about her friend…after they decided upon what to send in response, of course.


	7. Day 7: Teeth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't be a ship week without at least one kid in the mix lol

Cobra, at this point in time, was quite attuned to his wife's moods. He could tell almost instantly just by listening to the slight shifts in the tone of her voice. Happy, irritated, vengeful, it took only a second to confirm. So when she suddenly sprung a sentence on him…

"We need to have a talk about your daughter."

He only barely managed to suppress a shudder.

Her tone suggested someone on the verge of snapping a man's spine, and knowing his wife, it wouldn't just be his spine.

The daughter in question was happily drooling in her arms, smacking her own chubby limbs against her mother's strong grip. At only a little over six months, the baby girl was quite active, running both him and Lucy ragged when she hadn't even learned how to crawl yet. He couldn't bear to think of when she was able to break out into a full run throughout the house. Her activeness didn't seem to be on the forefront of Lucy's mind, however, as she stared reproachfully at him.

"By *my* daughter, is this somehow more directly attributed to me?" Cobra approached his wife and the baby cautiously, his intent to probe Lucy's thoughts to understand why she was glaring daggers before she started *throwing* daggers.

"Oh I think it's definitely *your* fault," Lucy sighed and held the baby out at arm's length. "Can you smile for Daddy, sweetie?"

Even though the baby couldn't possibly have understood what Lucy wanted, the sight of her father made her break out into a baby grin anyways. Cobra, still not sure what to expect, almost gasped as he spotted two brand new teeth in his daughter's mouth.

Or, perhaps more accurately, two new *fangs* in her mouth.

"She's growing in canines first?"

"Those are dragonslayer teeth!"

Lucy's screech made the baby erupt into giggles as the full scale of what she meant crashed onto Cobra's head like a metaphorical dragon. She seemed to be implying that his daughter inherited his unique dental work gifted to dragonslayers, which would explain her fanged smile. However…

"But I'm a second-gen, that doesn't make any sense!"

"Well try explaining that to my breasts!"

"Your…huh?"

Cobra gaped as Lucy painfully massaged her chest, her face full of dread. "How do you think I found out?"

The baby happily cooed, innocent to the havoc she'd wrecked on her mother. Cobra, unable to get the mental image of the little dragon clamping down in full force, couldn't suppress the smirk in time. Lucy's gaze then turned truly withering.

"Here," she handed the baby to him as she turned towards the kitchen, "until she's weaned I'm switching to bottles."

"But what about the connection between mother and child developed through breastfeeding?"

"Oh stuff it. If I have to breastfeed with little miss Dragon Fang here, there won't *be* any breasts to breastfeed with!" She gave him a glance. "This is for both our benefits."

Not entirely sure if she meant her and the baby or him and the baby, Cobra ended his quips as his wife disappeared around the corner to heat up some of the formula they had bought just in case. He peered into the bright purple eyes of his daughter as she showed off her fangs, making happy baby noises all the while. People said all the time that she looked just like him, but until now, he wasn't entirely sure he believed them.

He chuckled. "Guess you and Mommy will have to refrain from playing rough from now on, eh Judy?"

Judy blew a raspberry at him.

He gave a wide smile, showing off his own fangs. "That's my girl."


	8. Day 8: Imposter

Hushed whispers surrounded the outside of their parent's room. It was almost 8a.m., the time their mother said was the absolute earliest they could wake their father up. Small hands pushed open the door. A chorus of shouts rang out.

"Happy Father's Day!"

With that, the two middle children lept towards the bed, unintentionally providing a kamikaze attack on their still sleeping father. Well, if he didn't have super-advanced hearing that is...

A single indigo eye shot open and with the speed of someone all too familiar with this type of attack, Erik caught both of the children before they could squash him. Well, "caught" being a little generous. The three ended up flopped over in bed due to the speed and weight of the twins hurtling towards him.

"Leo! Cindi! Calm down!" the oldest child yelled.

"It's ok, it's ok…oofph, you two are getting so big! Soon I'll only be able to carry one of you at a time." Erik forlornly stated, leaving the twins giggling. The youngest child climbed onto the bed and snuggled down next to her father as the oldest one gave a sigh and joined them.

Erik put a hand on each of his children's heads and gave a contented hum. The four of them really were growing up fast; even his youngest was getting a mischievous glint in her eyes that spelled trouble from a mile away. And she was only five.

"So, did you four come in here just to say that, or…?"

"Well, not that you wouldn't find that enough, but…"

A voice called out from the hallway as his wife stepped into the room. She was already up before him, probably to help the kids with whatever they had planned for him. "Didn't you have something else to tell dad?"

"Oh yeah! We made breakfast!" Cindi proclaimed.

"We're not quite done but we'll bring it up in a second!" Leo said as he and his twin scooched off the bed and ran down the hall, closely followed by the other two. Lucy watched them go with a smile and sat down next to her husband.

"Did you let them ambush you?"

"Eh, I let them get half-way. Gotta keep those brats on their toes, right?"

Lucy smiled and intertwined his fingers with hers. They pressed together a little closer, enjoying the nice, quiet moment before breakfast arrived.

Then, in a voice almost too quiet to hear, Erik muttered. "Is it strange that it almost doesn't feel real?"

Lucy pulled back so she could look him in the eye. There was a strange melancholy there, one she wasn't used to seeing on him. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head. "It's just…you know. This is really nice. And for a long time, I didn't think it would ever be this way." He looked at her, a tinge of unease in his voice. "Sometimes I feel like I accidentally overtook someone else's happy life."

Suddenly in his mind he heard a clear memory. One of a little girl playing all by herself, in a house far too big for just her, looking out the window sadly. Looking into a world she could not be in.

"One day, I'll leave this house and make friends! And-and never be lonely again."

He gasped at the vividness of the image, while now it was Lucy who smiled sadly. "I know it's not the exact same as having a family, but for a while, it was hard not to feel like an imposter at the guild." She rubbed his fingers as she continued, "but I know now that even when I'm feeling that way, there are people who I can talk to about it. And that I'm not as alone as I think."

Not as alone as you think.

Erik sheepishly pulled his wife in close as he tried not to lose it before the kids came back. The two of them sat together, drinking in the close scent of the other, while silently reassuring the other.

They weren't alone, and they hadn't hijacked anyone else's life. They made theirs themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand scene! Thanks so much for reading through these! Remember to review and tell me what you thought!
> 
> For anyone curious, the kid in the previous drabble is the same oldest kid here (Judy). These four are the star of another CoLu week I plan on doing soon, so if you're curious about them and what they're getting up to, look forward to that!


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